From the painting desk #73 – Odds and sods
September 19, 2020
I’ve been painting a fair bit of smallish stuff in the past months, scatter scenics mostly. Barrels, crates and the like are something that I can paint without devoting too much attention to them, they’re good for getting the “models painted” counter up and allow me to retain some painting mojo even on those days when it’s just not quite there. As my blogging has stalled a bit, I figured it would be fun to show of some of this stuff.
These small pieces have been a great way to test out Citadel Contrast paints too, which I’m liking more and more. With a barrel or crate, who cares if it gets a bit messy – speed is key here.
These trade goods were both designed and printed by yours truly. I’m pretty proud that I can actually create something that in my not so humble opinion looks very professional.
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This is a gibbet (labeled a “hanging cage”) from WizKids, a part of their Deep Cuts range. Although you can’t really see it in the photo, there’s a little guy in there. I originally added a raven sitting on top of the gibbet, but managed to snap its tiny resin legs, so no luck there.
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This rowboat is from the Depths of Savage Atoll Kickstarter, and printed on my FDM machine. It’s simple and easy to use in multiple settings, and the photo angle conveniently hides minor printing issues.
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I can’t recall where I bought these resin pieces. They’re nice enough designs, but casting quality was awful – I had to spend quite a bit of time greenstuffing things up, and I pretty much painted these to be rid of them.
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Here are two tree stumps that I got off Thingiverse. In the middle is a giant snake wrapped around another tree stump. The snake is another Depths of Savage Atoll piece, and printed by me in resin.
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As these sort of photos can get a little boring, and I wanted a bit of photo play, I decided to stage some photos of them “in action”. This also gave me a chance to test my new photo backdrop, that I created from a cheap home decoration sticker – I think it works pretty well!
“Well gentlemen, these will fetch a tidy sum back in England.”
“You ever think about going pirate, George?”
“Nah, just look at this wretch here.”
“They say she can talk to snakes. Then again, they say a lot of things.”
Here’s hoping my next post is a bit sooner than a month from now. It’s been grant application writing season here, so not much time for anything fun. It’s letting up now, though, so time to get those brushes moving!
Dawn of the Lead 
A lot of nice bits’n’pieces there! 🙂 I do like the trade goods!
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Cheers John!
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The barrels/sacks you designed printed and painted look very professional, they would sit nice in a shop! So well done sir.
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Much thanks Eloth, really appreciate it!
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I get so excited when your posts pop up in my feed. Are you using the contrast paints they way they’re intended? Sounds like a silly question haha but I prefer using them as glazes. What you’ve done here looks awesome Mikko. My favourite has to be the one you designed and printed yourself though. Very cool. One day I hope to see you design and print AND paint a whole Spanish Armada hehe 👍🏼The backdrop on the action shots looks fantastic mate.
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So glad to hear that, thanks Luke! I definitely need to get my posting activity up. I mostly use them as intended, usually just slapping them over a grey, white, or grey-drybrushed-over-black basecoat.
A whole Spanish Armada? I’m sure I’ll have it done before Christmas 2038.
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It’ll be worth the wait 😉
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Great work. I always like a bit of scatter terrain.
Cheers,
Pete,
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Thanks Pete, you can never really have enough of it 😀
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Excellent work as always. I think Contrast paint is a godsend for boxes and barrels. To be honest though I pretty much use it on everything nowadays. It’s so cool being able to print what you need isn’t it 👍
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It’s made a huge difference, although it does mean that stuff keeps piling up even more than usual. Contrast really is perfect for this kind of work!
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Nice work on the goods, really do look professional. I too love the contrast paints, but find that I use them in multiple different ways so maybe they take more time now for me to pain.
Oh, and I love the painting AND the backdrop is really cool.
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Thanks Mark! I’m slowly getting to grips with the contrast paints and integrating them into my workflow. It can be a bit hit and miss, but I’m slowly getting there.
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